Authors Notes = A/N

"Normal Speech."

'Thoughts."

"Foreign Language."

"Sacred Gears/Weapon spirits speech."

'Sacred Gear/ Weapon spirits thoughts."

A/N:

Why hello there everybody! Been a long ol' while, hasn't it?

As I am sure you all know, I have now finished my public exams which means I now have roughly four months free to work on my stories and make some serious progress before I enter University and get to work there. As a result, I will be updating almost every single story every two or three days, because I don't want to leave you guys hanging in the middle of an arc for a month whilst I get settled into University.

Aside from that, all I really have to say is welcome back to 'The Jackal of the Grigori'.

And get ready…..

Because things are about to get interesting.

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

(Last time in: The Jackal of the Grigori)

"Then why is he still fighting?"

"What?" Azazel responded dumbly, earning a small snarl out of the normally calm and composed Queen and wife of Lucifer.

"That boy should never have to step foot onto another battlefield: he should've been given a family who loved him and cherished him. He should've been given the childhood that he never had in Zencasia…..

SO WHY IS HE STILL FIGHTING AZAZEL?"

She had started off quietly, but by the end of her speech, Grayfia was virtually screaming at the top of her lungs in rage. In fact, so out of control was the 'Silver-Haired Queen of Annihilation' that she had lost control of her magic to the point that the very ground she stood on was freezing over. Azazel took a step back and hung his head in shame whilst Sirzech swept his wife into a tight embrace until she finally regained her composure. After a while, Azazel managed to find enough resolves in his body to answer the horror-struck mother.

"Because he asked me not to." He whispered gently. Grayfia went to protest, but before she could she was cut off by the Viceroy of the Fallen.

"He told me that fighting was all he knew: that all he would ever know. He told me that he wasn't born to be a scientist or a teacher, that he wasn't meant to be a normal person. He told me that from his first day in service to the government, he'd realised that he was born to fight, born to kill.

It made me sick to hear a child say those words. But the more missions I sent him on and the more I sparred with him, the more I realised that he was right. He may have been an absolute genius with the potential to be anyone; but the call of the battlefield literally burns within his veins. Anything outside of fighting that he knows is something he's been taught….his skills in combat are all based around pure instinct.

You couldn't make a better soldier if you tried.

There's just something in him. I don't know if its genetics or if it's some sort of twisted cosmic joke, but Thierry is single-handedly the best natural warrior to have ever lived, and that ever will live." Azazel's words were uttered at little more than a whisper, but they reached every single person with the same intensity as if he had been shouting him. No-one had made a move to disagree, but eventually Gabriel found the courage to voice her thoughts.

"Azazel….I saw his soul when he first came here. If he were such a soldier, then it would be as black as the darkest of nights. Yet I found myself staring at a soul that was as pure as any Angels…..yet it was veiled by darkness, not tainted." She stated calmly, earning a small nod from her brother and Azazel.

"I agree, Gabriel-chan. His soul is as white as yours or Michael-kuns: but its veiled by the monstrous actions he's been forced to commit…and the monster he houses within his mind."

"What do you mean? Pi….Thierry has always seemed like a fairly normal person to me." Serafall intoned solemnly. Azazel merely shook his head before he continued with his explanation.

"Thierry may seem like a normal person to all of you: a man who has merely had bad things forced upon him. But the Zencasian government twisted parts of his mind: twisted it until they made a monster that he fights to keep locked away….but now…"

"Kokabiel has unleashed the 'Butcher of Lecan' upon himself….."

"And not even God himself would have been able to protect him from The Jackal when he hunts."

(Chapter Seven: Let the hunt begin!)

"I'm worried about him Tsubaki."

Said Queen looked up from the pile of paperwork she had been diligently filling out for the past few hours to look to her closest friend and King, Sona. Said girl was currently stood opposite Tsubaki, with her back facing her Queen as she looked out over the now darkness-clad image of Kuoh Academy. Her posture was tense from stress and worry, whilst her voice was ever so slightly strained, if the slight quiver in her voice was anything to go by. Something was seriously troubling the Sitiri heiress if it was affecting her like this: especially when you considered that Sona was someone who prided herself on her emotional control and her 'professional' appearance. She had battled against some rather horrific Stray Devil's and seen the atrocities that they committed first hand, and yet she had remained completely in control.

So this had to be something pretty damn big for it to get this kind of response.

Getting up from her chair, Tsubaki quickly worked out the kinks in her back before casting a fleeting glance around the room, revealing it to be empty; as she expected. All members of Sona's peerage (bare Tsubaki) were either away on jobs or had gone home for the evening, leaving the two young she-devils alone with nobody else for company. Walking over to the girl she considered a sister in all but blood, Tsubaki gently placed a comforting hand on her King's shoulder before gently applying enough pressure to force Sona to turn around…

And reveal a tear.

It was tiny, so small that had it not been for the gentle glint of the moonlight, Tsubaki would have missed it. It slowly trickled down her friends soft, white skin like a raindrop on glass: and considering the small frown on Sona's face, perhaps likening her emotional state to that of glass was not a foolish thing to do. She looked like she may just crack at any minute if any more stress was pilled on-top of her. Between her duties as an heiress, the position of 'Student Council President' and the upcoming 'Young Devils' gathering, Tsubaki was not surprised that the final weight on her shoulders seemed to be the one that was sending her over the tipping point. Smiling softly to her best friend, Tsubaki tried to offer her some words of encouragement.

"Sona, Pierr-kun is a very powerful magician, I'm certain that whatever he is dealing with is just taking him a while to sort out." Tsubaki said gently, using her King's first name without any sort of suffix in order to convey the fact that she was speaking as her best friend, not her Queen. Sona looked away for several seconds before she spoke up again, her frown growing slightly as she spoke.

"When Yumi told him to be careful, his reply indicated that whatever he was about to do: it was going to be something extremely dangerous, even for someone of his power and skill." She replied tersely, earning a small sigh from Tsubaki as she tried to out-reason Sona in an effort to try and get the extremely logical girl to calm down. Unfortunately for the Queen of the Sitiri heiress, this was something that was fair more easily said than done.

"You know how Pierr-kun is, Sona, perhaps better than anyone. He probably didn't mean it: and even if he did, he's strong. You should have more faith in him."

"He has my faith!" Sona snapped, her face twisting into an angry snarl as she wheeled on Tsubaki, who took a step back in shock at her friends outburst. She knew that Sona seemed to have feelings for Pierr that stretched….. beyond 'platonic', and this outburst just served to confirm just how strong those feelings seemed to be. For her King, a notorious 'Ice Princess' in the Underworld, to react so strongly to her words meant that there were some very strong feelings there, buried underneath her cold exterior. Tsubaki went to reply to her surrogate sister, but before she could, Sona continued to speak.

"It's not that he doesn't have my faith! Of course he does, I know that he's a very powerful magician, I've seen the memoires that Rias has of his training days. But that doesn't mean that he's invincible, Tsubaki! What if he gets injured badly? He can't call anyone for help that I know of, given his lone wolf nature. What if he gets captured and tortured?

And what if that stupid, brilliant, handsome, arrogant but wonderful idiot gets… gets….."

"Killed?"

A thick and heavy silence permeated the room after Tsubaki's question. It was a possibility neither of them wanted to even contemplate, but they both knew that in the Supernatural world, it was best to take into consideration any and all potential outcomes; no matter how you felt about them. And whilst they knew Pierr was one hell of a magician, there was always someone bigger, stronger and tougher in the world, just waiting for the opportunity to crush you underneath their boot. It was something that, whilst you grew accustomed to, you never came to truly accept… simply because it just added to the bleakness of the world that surrounded them.

Every day was lived in fear: either from a random Fallen Angel attack or Exorcist looking to make a name for themselves, and sometimes even other Devils.

And that was just on a local scale, never mind the knife-edge that the Supernatural world balanced on; simply waiting for the right amount of momentum to send it plummeting into the depths of a second 'Great War'. So it was only natural that Sona would feel so worried for the young man that seemed to have earned a small place in her heart. After all, there was no telling as to whether or not you were going to wake up the next morning in the Supernatural world, let alone make it back from a dangerous sounding mission.

So it was with a measured amount of grace and gentleness that Tsubaki took her king's hand and slowly guided her to the nearest sofa, in the middle of the room. Forcing her onto the comfortable leather, Tsubaki watched as her king closed her eyes before letting out a bitter chuckle.

"By the Mao, you must think I'm a weakling, acting like this over just one person." Sona commented off-handedly in a bitter tone of voice that did not suit the gorgeous Sitri heiress at all. Letting out what seemed to be her millionth sigh of the evening, Tsubaki rested her right hand on her King's cheek as she turned her gaze away from her long-time Queen before turning her head so that she could meet her warm brown gaze….

Before having her head whipped back into position by a fierce slap from her buxom Queen.

"With the greatest amount of respect, Kaichou, you need to stop with this stupidity." Tsubaki stated sternly, earning a faint widening of the eyes from Sona as she gingerly rubbed her cheek, too shocked to do anything else. Waiting until her King had fixed her attention solely onto her, Tsubaki took a calming breath before voicing her opinions on the matter.

"Kaichou, as you Queen I must inform you that it is unbecoming of the Heiress of the Sitri clan to work herself up into such a state over hypotheticals and 'what if' scenarios. Your family prides itself on its logical skills and water magic, not hyperventilating at the first negative thought that enters their heads…." Tsubaki deliberately trailed off as her King straightened her skirt out and sniffed slightly before taking a deep breath to compose herself. A few moments later and her infamous blank mask was back in place, but before she could offer any form of 'formal' comment, Tsubaki enacted the second half of the plan that she had concocted.

'This is the opportunity we've been waiting for! Who knows when we'll next get a chance to push Sona in the right direction with our favourite Frenchie.'

"But as a girl, speaking to another girl who she considers to be her best friend…..I only really have one thing to ask you…"

"What?"

"Do you like Pierr, Sona?"

The moment the words left Tsubaki's mouth, Sona's face turned a healthy red as her cheeks flushed red and her breathing hitched. Her mask fell again and was replaced with a mild look of shock that was most certainly out of place on the young Sitri heiress. A million thoughts seemed to be racing around in her mind as she tried to create a response for her Queen's rather blunt and personal question. And before she could truly delve into the issue, Tsubaki decided to force the issue and prevent her best friend from avoiding the real question that she'd asked.

"Before you even start, don't try and pull the 'of course I like him, he's my friend' card on me, I'm just going to tell you that I know that's not true, so you may as well come out with the truth first time round, Sona. It'll be easier that way."

Several minutes past after Tsubaki spoke, leaving her and Sona in a somewhat awkward silence (well for a certain heiress at least). The former of the two girls sat on the sofa and waited patiently as her King seemed to rattle through an internal monologue at a million miles an hour, if the way her eyes were darting about was anything to go by. And seeing as Tsubaki knew all of her friends' tells, she knew that she was having a serious internal debate about the issue, which was understandable given Sona's nature. She was not a very expressive girl, and she took matters such as love, sadness, physical attraction and so on very personally, as she was easily embarrassed by discussing such matters. The only people she ever seemed comfortable with even lightly discussing the issue with where Tsubaki herself, her mother and, rather surprisingly, Serafall.

Most of the time, Sona was highly embarrassed by her sister's childlike persona and attitude, and as such rarely discussed any form of personal issue with her. However, when it came to things pertaining to her younger sibling's happiness, Serafall would drop her childlike act and behave like a mature yet loving older sister, as nothing mattered more to her than keeping Sona happy. But unfortunately, those occasion were rare for Serafall, and as such it more often than not fell on either Sona's mother of Tsubaki herself to listen to the young Sitri heiress' woes.

Just like now.

"Yes, I do like him."

Sona's voice was barely above a whisper, in fact had even the faintest gust of wind passed through the room, Tsubaki would have sworn that the words would have been lost to her. Fortunately the windows were closed, so she did hear her friends words, and she couldn't help but smile at them lightly. Gesturing slightly with her hand, Tsubaki waved for her King to elaborate on that statement and fill her in on some of the details. Sona bit her lip for several seconds, as if in deep thought about something before she finally relaxed her stiff posture and began to speak.

"I don't really know how to phrase what I feel. But if I had to say anything, I just feel happy whenever Pierr's around. I find him to be the best company I keep outside of the peerage and Rias' group. He's funny, witty and a great friend who I've come to care for a great deal over these past few months…

I don't love him or anything like that, but I certainly would like to see if our relationship can extend beyond 'just friends' and into something more. I just don't know how to go about that yet, though."

Tsubaki smiled warmly at her King's honest words: Sona was far too serious sometimes for her own good, so the chance for someone like Pierr to worm his way into her heart and get her to lighten up could only be a good thing. She needed to relax a lot more, and it seemed like Pierr was truly the only person capable of doing that. Whilst she herself never had any form of dating experience, she knew that Momo, Akeno and even Yumi had dated boys before, so it was just a case of figuring out who Sona would be most comfortable with and pushing them in that direction.

So with her plan set, Tsubaki pulled her best friend into a hug before whispering in her ear.

"I don't know much myself Kaichou, but there's no need to worry about such things for now. Wait until Pierr gets back, and then we can go from there."

"Thanks Tsubaki." Here Sona paused to laugh as the two pulled away from one-another before Tsubaki continued speaking.

"I wonder what that crazy Frenchman's up to now?

"With him, anything from destroying an Aircraft carrier to attacking a Russian Mafia boss is probably not out of the question." Sona replied in her usual dry monotone, earning a blank look from Tsubaki as she stared at her King, before breaking down into peals of laughter alongside the Sitiri heiress at the absurdity of either idea actually happening.

…..

…..

…..

If only they knew the half of it.

(Moscow, Russia, The Sickle Club, main room, at the same time)

"REMIND ME! WHY THE FUCK WE'RE ATTACKING THE RUSSIAN MOB AGAIN, JACKAL?"

"WE NEED THE INFO THEY HAVE ON KOKABIEL'S SHIPMENT! AND BESIDES, YOU THINK THIS IS BAD, HAZE? HAHAHAHA! YOU SHOULD'VE BEEN THERE WHEN ME AN' VALI TOOK OUT AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER!" Aforementioned hitman shouted back to his Fallen Angel companion before emerging from behind the sofa he was currently hiding behind before unloading six quick return shots into the never-ending storm of automatic weapons fire that was raining down upon him with his favourite pistol. Those shots would earn him three kills as the two guards that were closing in on his position, as well as killing a third man who was on the balcony above them with a P90 sub-machine-gun, who was sent tumbling over the edge and only stopped moving when his head exploded on contact with the floor.

"YOU'RE INSANE!" Raynare screamed at her friend as she huddled down into the booth she was currently trapped in, in an effort to avoid the bullets that were slowly beginning to punch through the incredibly thick would and leather, whilst Thierry stayed in the open and continued to pick off guards until his magazine ran dry. Said Hitman 'tsked' in annoyance at his companions words before shouting out to her in ancient Greek, so that their human foes would be unable to understand what they were saying.

"My sanity aside for the moment Raynare, I do actually have a plan to get us out of this. In a few seconds, I'm going to move out of this cover and draw the attention of the group that are dug in whilst killing the rest of these fuck-heads that are more open. The moment I do that, I want you to pull the pin on a grenade and hold it for three seconds before lobbing it at those bastards that are dug in up there!" Raynare gaped at her comrades orders for several seconds before regaining enough of her wits to try and offer some form of opposition to her friends' mad scheme.

"There's no-way you'll kill all of them!"

"I don't appreciate that kind of negativity." Thierry replied coolly as he set about reloading his pistol and drawing his High-frequency combat knife. Raynare let out a growl of frustration as she realised that he really planned on going through with this before finding enough courage (and a gap in the firing) to assess the field of battle that she and her new best friend / confident found themselves in.

Said battlefield would have once been the lounge area of an extremely well-to-do club/bar in Moscow. The entire area was probably around fifteen meters wide and about just as deep with an expansive bar covering the entirety of the walls on either side of the room that she and Thierry were trapped next to. The middle area was filled with expensive sofa's and booths that once helped to emphasise just how rich one would have to be to even contemplate coming here of an evening: but now they just served to highlight the destructive potential of humanity's firearms as they turned expensive leather sofa's into little more than bits of tanned hide and stuffing, and wooden booths into little more than fragments of wood not too dissimilar to those found leaving a wood-chipper.

On the floor above them ran an highly decorated railing that prevented people from falling to an early death, and was probably designed in a similar fashion to downstairs. Unfortunately, not only could Raynare not see past this safety feature, her attention was mostly focused on taking care of the fortified position that Thierry had spoken of.

It was a combination of sofa's, tables and other such items of heavy furniture that had been hastily put into place before the duo's arrival in the club to create something reminiscent of a Pillbox, albeit of wood and upholstery. Positioned right above the doorway which they needed to use in order to get to the next area of the club and have a chance of reaching the owner, the damned position was kitted out with enough firepower to take down a small battalion of professional soldiers easily, and still have enough to take down another two. It was a ludicrous amount of firepower that only an insane person would believe they had a chance of getting past.

Unfortunately for these gangsters though, they weren't dealing with a battalion of soldiers. Nay, they were dealing with something a million times worse.

The Jackal and his new 'accomplice', Haze.

From the moment he had been tasked with overseeing her training, Thierry had drilled Raynare mercilessly in every single aspect of war: mortal and supernatural. From firearms to spear-based combat, explosive ordinance to Holy magic, survival in a hostile environment to slipping into a well-guarded compound, mental to physical conditioning, Thierry had left no stone unturned. And whilst she may have only been a fledgling at his crafts, Raynare could already say that she was a far superior fighter compared to when she had first fallen into Thierry's care. He was an amazing teacher, even though he didn't really know it. There was just something about him that made you push yourself that little bit further, train that little bit longer, pay attention that smidgen closer.

In all honesty he had just about every trait you could want in a good role-model. Thierry was incredibly intelligent and (usually) hard-working when compared to the vast majority of the world. He was arguably the single strongest human being alive and when allowed to unleash his full power, he became more monster than man: and yet he never abused that power once. His skills in combat, good looks and general demeanour when you got to know the real him were also major factors in his overall appeal as a person. And even though he was haunted by demons that she could only ever even begin to imagine, Raynare couldn't help but marvel at his mental strength and durability….

In fact, she only really had one complaint about her new friend.

"BRING IT ON YOU SPINELESS FUCK-BUCKETS!"

And that was that he was a bigger battle nut than Dondesheek.

….

That's to say he was really, really, really bad.

The moment his battle-cry left his lips, Raynare couldn't help but watch as Thierry suddenly burst out from behind his cover with a superhuman show of speed and agility. But what was so god-damned impressive about the whole display was not that he was covering an area of open-ground in quarter the time it would take even an Olympic level athlete to. Nor was it his monstrous show of strength as he kicked an entire booth across the open area and into a small group of guards, who were turned into little more than red paste on the wall. No, what was truly gob-smacking about Thierry's renewed assault was the fact that he was blocking bullets.

With his knife.

Raynare had seen some insane things in her time, but this may well have taken the cake. Her friend's arms were like a blur as he either deflected the bullets that would hit him, or proceeded to cut them in half. She knew that he had reflexes beyond her imagination, but as far as she was concerned, when you started pulling Neo-like bullshit, as Thierry was doing, you had to question whether or not that person was telling the truth when they said they were human.

She continued to watch for a split-second more, mesmerised as Thierry trained his pistol on a group of guards that were closing in on him, before unloading four shots at them. Each and every single round found itself buried into the skull of one of the incoming, suit-clad mobsters, sending them tumbling to the floor in a mess of tangled limbs and brain-matter. The whole thing seemed to happen in slow motion, and as such, Raynare couldn't help but be morbidly fascinated by the violence that was playing out in-front of her. It was like something from a Hollywood blockbuster. However, before she could continue with her current train of thought, Raynare found her attention being focused back onto her task when Thierry cried out to her over the gunfire.

"NOW RAYNARE!"

Shaking her head, the buxom young Fallen pulled the pin of the grenade that she was holding before she began her count, noticing how each second seemed to stretch out like an eternity.

'One.'

Raynare watched as Thierry calmly turned the left hand side of his body towards a goon with a pistol, who tried to line up the infamous 'Jackal' for a shot. With his full weight pitched forwards, Thierry began running towards the terrified young man as he unloaded the first of two wild shots towards her partner, tilting his head slightly to the right in order to avoid a round that would have sent his brains splattering across the floor.

Thierry brought his knife up the moment the second shot was loosed, and an instant later, the bullet that would have ripped straight through his shoulder-blade was knocked off-course, sending the brass round flying off towards the light-fixtures above, shattering a large fitting and sending a river of sparks and flames flying down towards the bar area. The flames glinted gently off of the cold, merciless steel of Thierry's knife and pistol, whilst serving to illuminate his opponents horror struck face as he was subjected to a full-frontal body-slam.

'Two'

By this time, the remaining three guards that were in the open began to open fire on Thierry's unexposed back. But as if on pure instinct, Thierry used his momentum to begin spinning in mid-air until his opponent was between him and the hot wall of incoming lead that screaming towards them, acting as a human shield. Said man let out a scream of pure agony as red-hot rounds began to bury their way into his back, but thanks to the body armour that he was wearing, they were never going to cut straight through him and hit Thierry.

Whilst his shield screamed bloody murder, said French hit-man calmly levelled his sidearm at the three remaining soldiers that he could hit. His eyes were as cold as a winter's wind as he zeroed in on his first target, a young-ish looking man with brown hair and eyes who was clad in the same black suit as every other guard in the building.

'Three'

On the third count, Raynare flung the grenade from her dainty hand towards the entrenched position that was still trying to get some form of clean shot at Thierry. Had said explosive been thrown by anyone else, then there was a realistic chance that said person wouldn't have either thrown it far enough or accurately enough to hit the make-shift pillbox, and thus the men inside would have lived to see another day.

Unfortunately for those men, Raynare had pin-point accuracy with almost any throwing weapon in existence, and given her status as a two winged Fallen-Angel, she also had more than enough strength to make the throw.

If time had been going slowly in the seconds leading up to this moment, then it was virtually at a stand-still now. The grenade seemed to travel through the air at a snail's pace, covering the open air so slowly that it made Raynare almost scream in frustration. The dull green colour-scheme of the explosive weapon glinted in the light of the club, adding to the ominous effect of the weapon as it flew through the air. The moment the grenade reached half-way, Thierry unload the first of his shots towards the firing squad that was currently attempting to turn him into mincemeat. The moment the bullet left the barrel, six or seven return shots slammed into his human shield, sending a cloud of bloody-red mist flying into the air, whilst several more dug into the cold stone flooring, sending dust and sharpened bits of rock flying into the air.

The moment he was able to, Thierry unloaded the second and third shots consecutively towards his targets. The second round, like the first, found itself buried into the skull of the guard that was on the left hand side of the group, sending a huge spurt of blood and brain-matter flying out of the back of his skull as the backs of their heads exploded. The third shot, however, only clipped its target in the shoulder and actually failed to kill him. Thierry's eyes seemed to narrow as he zeroed in his sights on the target like the well trained, high-class professional assassin he was...

Just as the grenade entered the pill-box.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Raynare tried to use her hands to block out the horrific din as it filled the entire room, but it was like trying to drown out the sound of a jet-engine being fired up whilst you stood next to it. As a result, the young Fallen Angel couldn't help but release a small squeal of pain as her hearing was destroyed and replaced by a loud, grating ringing sound that drowned out everything, including the young Fallen Angel's hearing.

'Fucking hell! Was that one of those custom grenades Thierry always talks about?' She thought to herself when the ringing died down and she felt it was probably safe enough for her to start moving again. The moment she looked out from behind her cover, the young Fallen couldn't help but let out a small whistle of appreciation at the sheer amount of damage that the explosive had managed to cause to the relatively large room.

The entirety of the balcony area where the make-shift pillbox had been was literally non-existent. Everything, from the ground it stood-on to the men inside, had been eviscerated along with a lot of the surrounding area. That which had been spared from the detonation of the grenade had been showered across the room, covering the entire place in a thin blanket of dust and debris. The concussive force of the blast had also crushed and destroyed most things within a four or five meter radius of the hellish explosive, further damaging the room and spreading the remains of various bits of furniture and other such amenities all around the area.

'I swear to god that I'm going to kick his ass! Thierry totally lied about….wait a second…'

"Jackal!"

(Thierry's P.O.V)

The moment she realised that her friend had not made his way over to her after the devastating explosion, Raynare stumbled out from behind her now-shredded cover and made her way over to where she had last seen Thierry as quickly as possible, given the condition of the floor. When she finally reached the area, she was ready to let out a whimper of despair as she caught sight of the massive concrete slab that was lying where her closest confident had last been. However, just before she could scream out his real name, the block of concrete was suddenly sent flying up into the air before crashing down some several meters away from where it had started.

Underneath were two bodies, one of which had little more than two inches left in terms of his bodies' thickness. The second body grunted in irritation before rolling the human remains that he was trapped under off of his body, revealing a blood-soaked but overall unharmed Thierry Blanc to the dust filled air of the club once again.

Placing his hands behind his head, Thierry used his superior upper body strength and leg strength to leap back onto his feet, pistol and knife firmly returned to his grip as he stretched his arms above his head, eliciting several 'pops' from his spine...

Before turning his head towards Raynare…

And having it snapped back into its previous position following said Fallen Angel's slap.

"Next time, tell me when I'm handling a mini fucking tank round will you! And don't do something that stupid ever again, or I swear by all that's holy, I will find a way to resurrect your sorry arse just so I can kill you myself for being so bloody reckless!" Raynare screeched in anger, causing Thierry to shift a rather pissed off gaze towards the buxom young Fallen. However, before he could retort (what he saw as) her needless anger, he caught sight of the look in her eyes.

Fear.

Worry.

Concern.

As much as he wanted to reprimand her for being unprofessional, Thierry also knew that Raynare was clearly trying to look out for him, given the fact that she cared for him, just like he genuinely cared for her. And as such, he swiftly found his anger dying down until it was virtually none-existent, all whilst musing to himself.

'Damn it, I can't stay mad at her. She's just trying to look out for my health, which is probably a good thing considering that the only other two people who do that are Azazel and Shimhazai. But she needs to know that sometimes you have to take risks in an operation, whether you like it or not.'

"Raynare, I'm sorry for scaring you like that, but 'ou need to understand zat sometimes, 'ou need to take risks in an operation. Ezpecially with one as important as zis." He told her gently, earning a soft nod from the young girl before she darted forwards and wrapped Thierry in a tight yet somehow gentle hug.

"I know, I just don't like the thought of you being in danger."

"Better me than 'ou, I have ze training to survive stupid shit like zat." He replied dryly, earning a small chuckle from Raynare as she pulled away from Thierry, wiping her exposed eyes gently before a small grin seemed to from underneath the lower-face mask that she wore. Cocking her head slightly, the young girl pointed towards the door behind Thierry before she spoke.

"I'm pretty sure that there are more arseholes through there between us and Serkov." She commented in a blasé tone of voice, earning a sadistic chuckle from Thierry as he sealed away his pistol and returned his combat knife to its place on his right forearm. The young Frenchman felt his entire body go slightly giddy at the prospect of yet more violence, and so it was with a dark chuckle that Thierry began to stalk towards the door whilst slowly drawing the crimson-red blade that sat in the sheath on his right hip.

"Then let's go so say hello."

(Kuoh Academy, at the same time, with Yumi)

Yumi Kiba let out a small sigh as she continued to flick through the fashion magazine that she was reading in the main room of the Occult research club. None of her usual contract summonses had called for her this evening, whilst everyone else had been sent on a job and the young devil's master had left to speak with her elder brother via a communication seal in private. And as such had little to do aside from sit about and either do her homework or read. And seeing as she had already finished the former on that incredibly short and boring list, the young devil-girl had resorted to browsing through various fashion magazines. However, whilst this would normally only be something that she did when there was little else for her to do of an evening, this time her perusal was actually serving a purpose other than to alleviate the mind-numbing boredom of being the only person left in the club-room at the moment.

'Oh that would probably catch his eye.' Thought to herself with a small smirk as she caught sight of one look in particular that she was certain that would help ensnare the attention of a certain Frenchman that she had set her eyes on.

Said look consisted of flat, ballerina-style shoes, jeggings and a simple white shirt along with a lightweight white blazer with black accents. The model who was wearing the outfit certainly looked stunning in it, but as far as Yumi was concerned, she was a million times more attractive than the girl in the photo. And as such, if any normal man found the person in the picture attractive, then they most certainly would find Yumi to be some kind of sex-goddess.

A vain comment?

Most certainly.

But truthful?

Irrefutably.

'Fufufu, I can't wait to ask Pierr out when he gets back~! I'll wear this and then hopefully we can take our…. Alone time into territory that strays into something more than just a bit of kissing.' Yumi thought to herself gleefully, blissfully unaware of the small blush spreading across her face as she began to fantasize as to how she would go about asking Thierry out. In fact, so wrapped up in her own little world was the young girl that she failed to notice the Gremory seal that had sprung to life in the room, nor the faint glow it emitted as a member of the peerage was returned back to club.

However, she was most certainly snapped out her thoughts when an all too familiar, teasing voice cut through her daydreaming like a knife through hot butter.

"Ara,ara Yumi-chan, what's gotten you so happy since I left…. Or is it better of me to ask who's made you so happy since I left?" Akeno commented off-handedly, snapping Yumi out of her thoughts. Said girl turned her steely grey orbs onto the buxom Queen before fixing her violet eyes with a withering glare.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Oh, I can tell it's Pierr-kun. After all, why else would you of all people be happy to read a fashion magazine of all things?" Akeno retorted in an off-handed manner, causing Yumi's eyes to narrow slightly as she intensified her glare, as if hoping that some ill misfortune would befall the buxom ravenette if she kept staring long enough.

"Fuck you."

"I'd rather that be Pierr. I mean, when I finally win our little bet and get to see his full glory, I'm certain that it'll be for a rather intimate few hours." By the time Akeno had finished her sentence, Yumi was shooting the girl a look that, if it could kill, would leave Akeno dead a thousand times over. Her entire form was shaking as she glared at the other female in the room with absolute venom in her eyes, whilst her mind drifted back to the conversation that they had a day or so before the party at the Phenex Manor.

(Flashback)

Yumi and Akeno stood facing one-another in a deserted Occult Research Club room with little more than the coffee table that sat between the Sofa's separating them. Both girls had passive looks on their faces and a calculating look in their eyes as they eyed up their competition in the new battle that had emerged between the two of them over the past few days.

The two of them had been dropping subtle hints around one another about their attraction to Pierr Dusitoir, in an effort to get a response out of one another so that they knew where they stood. Up until now, neither of them had said a word. But when Yumi dropped her latest hint about wanting to 'hang out' with Pierr, Akeno decided that now would be the best time to challenge the girl on the issue, seeing as there was nobody else around, therefore allowing them to keep their discussion private. However, the trouble was that neither of them really knew how to begin the conversation without making it too awkward or weird, and thereby negating the chance to have a serious discussion on the matter.

Eventually, Akeno seemed to pluck up enough courage to begin their long-awaited conversation about the person of their combined interests.

"So you like Thierry then, Yumi?"

It was blunt and to the point, something which Yumi seemed to appreciate as the girl nodded her head slightly before flopping down onto the sofa to her right, whilst Akeno followed suit, only on the sofa opposite.

"So how's this going to go down then? Because I'm pretty sure that we've liked him for an equal amount of time." Yumi supplied casually as she met Akeno's gaze with her own. Said Queen merely nodded her head before a small, almost sadistic smirk began to play across her luscious lips.

"Well, I think that the only real way that we can solve this issue is with a little competition between you and I." Akeno's voice was cheery and calm, as if she hadn't just suggested that they essentially battle over the attention of a man like two small children. Yumi's disbelief manifested itself in the shocked look she sent Akeno before attacking her idea.

"That's insane! Pierr's not some box of chocolates or something, he's a human being! A really, really hot human being, but that doesn't mean we can fight over him like some sort of spoilt toy." Yumi countered hotly, drawing a small sigh from Akeno as she crossed her legs and fixed her junior with a small smile.

"I'm not saying we actually fight over him. Rather, we both try to woo him and get a date with him, and the first person to bed him gets to hold the position of girlfriend, and therefore has vetting powers over who and who cannot be his mistresses."

Following Akeno's blasé comment, a disbelieving silence fell over the room as Yumi's face went blank and her mind tried to process what her fellow peerage member had just said. Eventually, after what seemed like an age, the buxom young knight seemed to regain enough of her cognitive functions to reply to her master's Queen.

That didn't mean it was intelligent or anything though.

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?"

"I thought I was pretty clear, Yumi-chan?" Akeno asked politely whilst poking one of her eardrums in an effort to recover from Yumi's outrageously loud scream that had caused most of the birds on Campus to fly away in fear. Said buxom blond continued to glare at the 'Crimson haired ruin Princess's' Queen before finally deciding to voice her issues with her statement.

"What the hell do you mean 'vetting powers on who and who cannot be his mistresses', you crazy bitch?"

"Ara, ara, so uncouth for a lady! But to answer your question, I literally meant what I said. Pierr is an extremely powerful, sexy young man with an appealing personality. As such, it is extremely unlikely that he will be stuck with one woman, seeing as the Supernatural world is keen on polygamy. But seeing as either one of us will get there first, we are therefore entitled to choose who can be a part of his love-life." Akeno answered seriously, as if she had practiced the whole thing the night before. Yumi looked at the girl disbelievingly before turning her gaze away from her, a small smirk slowly forming on her lips as the 'Priestess of Thunder's' argument began to take sway in her mind.

"What makes you think I'll want to share Pierr with you when I win this little game of ours?" She replied calmly, earning a small giggle from Akeno. Yumi felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance as the girl just continued to giggle and ignore the Knight's question, seemingly on purpose. The blond-haired girl growled in annoyance before slamming her hands down on the table and glaring venomously at the girl across from her.

"WHAT ARE YOU GETTING AT YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Yumi roared, causing Akeno to giggle even harder as the blond seethed in rage at the Queen's reaction. Eventually though, Yumi calmed down and adopted a smug look on her face that caused Akeno to cease her giggling.

"I get it, you must be having a mental breakdown after realising that my superior body will carry the day for me quite easily!" Yumi proclaimed happily, whilst crossing her arms underneath her incredible bust, causing it to strain quite badly against her shirt. The blond Knight took a huge amount of personal pleasure in seeing Akeno's eyebrow twitch in irritation at the comment, having obviously struck a nerve with the raven-haired she-devil. However this look did not remain for long, and Yumi soon found herself having to pick her jaw up off of the floor at her masters' Queen's next comment.

"Are you so sure about that? After all, last time I check, I was the one who shared a bath with Pierr-kun whilst we were on our training tr- oh shit!" The Queen found her monologue interrupted by Yumi, who had a summoned a sword into her hands lashing out at the buxom girl opposite her in a fit of absolute rage. Akeno fell over the back of the sofa before charging lightning into her hands and narrowing her own eyes at Yumi.

The two remained silent as lightning seemed to literally spark between their eyes before they both charged forwards, screaming the same thing.

"I WON'T LOSE TO YOU, SKANK!"

Needless to say, the resulting cat-fight was one that spawned one of the greatest female rivalries in history…

And caused a rather large headache for a certain crimson-haired princess when she saw what was left of her club-room when she got back.

(End flashback)

'I'm not going to let her win this bout. This time, I'm going to win. And I have an idea of the best weapon to use against this skank.' Yumi thought to herself darkly as Akeno began to laugh to herself over her apparent victory in this little spar. Yumi merely flicked her hair over her shoulders before allowing a small smirk to cross her lips as she spoke up.

"And yet you still don't know what Pierr's lips feel like, do you?" She commented off-handedly, leading to Akeno's laughter dying a rather abrupt death. The raven-haired she-devil grit her teeth audibly before turning her head towards Yumi with a fake smile plastered onto her lips, her eyes shadowed by the bangs of her hair. The knight couldn't help but allow her victorious smirk to grow into a full-blown smile at the other girl's look before she continued speaking.

"I mean, why would he want to know how your shitty lips feel when he tasted mine back at the party. In fact, I think he had coped a feel of my ti- OH SHIT!" Yumi screamed as she was forced to dive off of the sofa she had been laying on in an effort to avoid a now demonic looking Akeno who's eyes had taken on a red glint as lightning danced around her fingers as she lined up another shot.

"JUMP UP YOUR FUCKING ARSE AND DIE YOU BITCH!"

Their brawl would last until Rias came back to the club-room to find the building almost destroyed with two girls still rolling around in the ruins, trying to fight one-another despite their rather clear and obvious fatigue. And when Akeno and Yumi caught sight of their master's tapping foot, they could both only think one thing.

'Fuck! I hope Pierr's having a better time than I am.'

(With Thierry and Raynare)

"Achoo!"

"Bless you, Jackal."

"No need, I zink it was because someone's talking about me."

"Whatever you say, you narcissistic bastard."

"I am not – Oi! Where do 'ou think you're going!"

"No, please – ghack!" SMASH!

Thierry dusted his hands lightly as he took in the form of the man he had just hurtled half-way across the office they were currently in. Raynare let out a small sigh at the man's feeble attempt to get away before turning back to pilfering through the draws she currently had open on the man's desk. Said man appeared to be in his late forties to early fifties with black hair and brown eyes along with a thick, bushy moustache. He was wearing an expensive business suit that was currently slashed in several places and was covered in a lot of blood, some of which was his own, but the majority belonging to the guards who's blood was currently leaking all over the floor of the office.

The man went to say something, but before he could 'The Jackal' beat him to it.

"I'm not going to ask you again Surkov, where the fuck did you move the shipment from the Khaos Brigade to?" Thierry snarled in a voice that was as cold as death itself. Surkov looked away from the infamous hitman, as if searching his mind for an answer. However, he apparently took too long for Thierry's liking as the Frenchman merely kicked the downed Russian in the chest, causing him to let out a shriek of pure agony as his ribs were either bruised or broken by the immense strength put behind the kick.

"Fuck! Okay, okay! The shipment was moved onto a small place called Planzted. It's an old warehouse site in the middle of fucking nowhere; abandoned after the fall of communism. The guy you're looking for is called Hitsuguya : brown hair and eyes, medium build. You'd have to ask him for more information about where the shipment went from there. That's all I know, I swear It!" Surkov snivelled out in Russian, earning a small sigh from Thierry who took several moments to contemplate the man's words before nodding his head acceptingly.

"I believe you."

"Does that mean I can leave?" The man asked hopefully. However, whatever little hope he had of making it out of his office alive was dashed when Thierry levelled his Browning Hi-power pistol at the man's head.

"Sorry, but the Jackal doesn't leave witnesses."

"No, nonononono-" BANG!

A flash of light later and Surkov's cold and lifeless corpse was left slumped against the far wall of his office as the Jackal slowly began to stalk towards the door, whilst turning his head to Raynare.

"Raynare, set the charges and get ready to move out…."

"This hunt has only just begun."

A/N:

Told ya'll I'd be back today!

I'll tell you what, I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I don't know whether it's because I haven't really 'written' anything in a while, or because I'm riding the euphoria of finishing exams, but this wasn't a chore to write at any moment, which is quite the statement seeing as that's a problem most chapters have. Now normally I would hit roughly ten thousand – twelve thousand words, but seeing as this has only been written in about four to five hours, I'd say that roughly nine thousand or so words is about right, especially when you consider that this is the first proper chapter I've written in quite some time.

I'd like to hear what you guys thought of the character interactions in this chapter, especially Akeno and Yumi. I tried to get the 'over-the-top-friendly-rivals' vibe that seems to permeate through Mirajane and Erza's relationship in 'Fairy Tail' and as such I would appreciate any sort of feedback you have for me. I've always felt that character interactions were amongst the worst aspects of my writing, and as such I tried to work on this that little bit extra to make it above par for what I usually do, in order to raise the standard of an 'average' chapter.

Any ways, I'm sure that you've all figured this out by now, but just in case it hasn't become apparent to you guys, I've provided you all with a harem update below so that you can keep track of how things are going, seeing as it's been some time since I last posted on.

So here it is.

Thierry's Harem:

-Kuroka

-Raynare

-Yumi

-Akeno

-Rossweiss

-Sona

-?

-?

-?

-?

-?

I would also like to point out that this is the maximum I really want to push with any harem. Anything beyond roughly 11 – 14 (maybe fifteen) is kind of stupid, in my opinion. It leaves virtually no screen time for the girls, and they become sacks of meat that the main character (be they Issei, and OC or Naruto) to have sex with in a short, undetailed lemon that tends to have as much emotion and gravity to it as found in a hooker's job.

I intend to keep the harem at this sort of level as it means everyone can get a decent amount of screen time : and when I write the lemon scenes that are planned for this story, all I can say is that they will contain equal focus on the emotional side of sex as much as the carnal acts. Instead of male characters (Naruto, I'm looking at you here) 'roaring their release' or having a dick that nothing short of a horse could beat, whilst simply fucking any girl in their harem silly because they have god-like stamina, even during their first time (*See almost any Naruto x-over that involves a lemon for an example*). But anyways, that's looking quite far into the future, so let's leave that as it is for now.

And that pretty much covers everything ya'll need to know….

Oh, expect for the fact that I have another DxD cross-over planned, hopefully for release either tomorrow or Saturday, and I would appreciate it if you guys (also along with my other stories) would mind reading it and showing it some love. It's going to be a: Harry Potter / Highschool DxD / Code Geass / Lots of other Anime Amalgaverse that combines the stories of the first three aforementioned Anime/Manga in a lot of ways, whilst tons of other stories supplement the main x-overs.

So yeah, like I said, check it out. Because it's going to be my single largest and most complex project to date, with something for just about everyone!

Anyways, enough about that.

Please leave a review to tell me what I did well and not so well, and therefore what needs improving and what can stay as it is (let's try and break the eighty reviews mark today, it'd mean a lot to me!). And make sure to keep up-to-date with the story by dropping a fave or a follow (or maybe even both), and do go visit some of my other works via my profile page: I'm always looking to expand the fan base I have for each story!

Peace folks,

MetalGearMantis.

P.S: There's a sneak-peak at the next chapter below, by the way!

(Chapter Eight sneak peek: 'Blood on the snow'.)

Raynare's breathing was deep and calm as she kept her Sniper's sights zeroed in on the target building. She had been laid there like that for several hours, barely moving a single inch as she kept her murderous eyes trained on the enemies that were within the warehouse district that she and Thierry were currently attacking. Raynare was, obviously, providing long-range support to her closest confidant and friend with a VSK Silence sniper rifle whilst Thierry moved in on the ground. She had been waiting for almost thirty agonizing minutes before the small ear-piece she was wearing crackled into life, almost causing her to jump slightly in surprise.

"Jackal to Haze, come in Haze, over."

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Raynare gently used her right hand to turn off the mute button and therefore allow herself to respond to her partner-in-crime.

"This is Haze, send traffic, over." Her response was wholly professional and totally focused on the task at hand. Thierry seemed to take a moment to compose himself before he continued to speak to her down their secure channel.

"I'm at the base of the target building, North entrance. I need you to confirm a hard visual on me, over."

Sweeping her scope away from the eastern quadrant of the building, Raynare repositioned her gaze until it was finally fixed on Thierry, who she only saw thanks to the faint glinting a signalling mirror. Blinking several times to clear her vision, Raynare re-adjusted her scope before replying to her friend.

"Hard visual confirmed, Jackal. Sniper support is available, over."

"Alright, we've only got one shot at this Haze. Hitsuguya cannot escape, we need to know where the weapon went from here and any additional information that we can beat out of him. If you get the chance, clip him with a shot so that any escape attempt will be that bit more difficult for him.

Five seconds after I finish this communication, I'll activate the seal suppressor, so that if he wants to get away, he'll have to fly. You switch to thermal and start clearing the factory floor out from back to front, whilst I take out whatever you miss.

Sound good? Over."

Raynare allowed a small smile to grace her lips, underneath her mask as she flicked off the safety switch on her Sniper before responding with the two words that she knew Thierry was dying for her to say.

'Let's rock!'